A hand tool of the aforementioned type is proposed in, for example, DAS 1,139,945 wherein the hand levers, urged or spread apart into a V-shape by a spring force, are provided, at free ends thereof, with two paring knives extending in a longitudinal direction of the hand levers and being mutually inclined with respect to the longitudinal direction in correspondence with the V-shape of the two hand levers. In use, during a paring, two strips of peel are simultaneously removed from an elongated or rod-shaped vegetable; however, the removed strips of peel are not in mutual diametrically opposition.
A disadvantage of the proposed hand tool resides in the fact that, when performing successive paring strokes, the user can only ascertain for certain that only the skin is removed by the paring knife within visible range during the carrying out of successful peeling strokes since the opposite paring knife is hidden by the vegetable. Consequently, it may occur that a strip of material is likewise peeled off the vegetable; however, by virtue of the fact that the second paring knife is hidden, there is no optical control possibility to readily ascertain whether the hidden paring knife peels off the skin or actual flesh of the vegetable. Thus, the use of this proposed hand tool often results in a considerable loss of actual vegetable tissue which is extremely disadvantageous particularly in the case of expensive vegetables such as, for example, asparagus.
In, for example, German Utility Model 7,816,311, a table top device is provided for peeling asparagus wherein pairs of diametrically opposed paring knives are carried by spring-loaded pivot levers, with an individual pivot axis of the pivot levers being oriented, in each case, in parallel to a longitudinal direction of the paring knives so that it is ensure that, independently of the pivoting position of the pivot levers, in all cases only exactly diametrically opposed strips of skin are removed.
A disadvantage of the last mentioned device resides in the fact that the peeling device includes many components and, consequently, is somewhat expensive. Moreover, the presence of the various components makes cleaning of the table type device not only extremely difficult but also time consuming and, as a practical matter, the proposed table top device is of little value as a household kitchen appliance.
In, for example, German Utility Model 7,525,168, another peeling device is proposed for peeling asparagus wherein the paring knives disposed in opposed pairs, must be pulled into an open position by way of pulleys in order to be able to introduce an asparagus shoot.
This last mentioned peeler has similar drawbacks as encountered in connection with the table top device of the aforementioned German Utility Model 7,816,311 since the device is expensive to manufacture and, as a practical matter, does not meet hygienic requirements imposed upon kitchen appliances.
Other prior art approaches are also proposed in, for example, German Patents 1,144,659 and 1,177,086.
While both of the last mentioned devices are relatively simple in construction, the peeling ability and manipulatability of the devices render the same relatively inefficient in addition to potentially resulting in a considerable loss of the actual vegetable tissue of the vegetable being peeled.